First Ascent Block 37 — Attraction in Chicago

First Ascent is one of my favorite places in Chicago. To me it’s really more than a place, it’s a community. I come to FA to climb, to work out and even just to work and run into people. Everyone I’ve met is extreme kind and friendly. I especially want to give a shout out to the staff who are nothing but great. I’ve been a member for 4 years now!

I love the events, in particular the 1 day events like Le Tour. I bet some more ambitious outdoorsy member gatherings like climbing, biking or camping trips would be a big hit.

I do think there’s some things that can be improved.

Some more staff, especially at the busy gyms like Block 37 would go a long way. On busy days the people at the front desk can get totally overwhelmed, lines out the door. I’d also appreciate if there was a staff member, ideally someone more senior, dedicated to walking around to interact with the community, be it small tips and coaching on the walls, looking out for safety issues, brushing chalked up holds or just hanging out. They could also be one to do small tasks like check lost and found, tidy up the gym, etc.

Cleanliness and maintenance can be also be issues. Corners get extremely dusty and bathrooms are often missing soap and other basics. It seems like the cleaning crews don’t have much ownership over the space or communication on what need to be done just isn’t there. I’ve mentioned this to staff a couple of times but apparently the cleaning crews are third parties that they don’t get much control over. I feel like cleaning used to be better.

My takeaway is that this is an amazing community but I do fear that as it expands things will start to slip through the cracks. I’d caution that trying to turn this into a pure for profit business may loose a lot of what...

Be careful about your points if you're a member.

I've went there regularly since Aug 2022 and the experience was always pleasant... until I checked my points this May. In early May, I referred 6 friends in and only received the referral points for 1. Further, I noticed that while I at least referred 4+ friends to the gym between January and May, I received none of the points.

I emailed them immediately, they added the points for the 5 friends in May back, but not for anyone before. -- Fine, it's a while ago and I also couldn't remember who they're clearly and didn't bother to reach out to every possible candidate for such a minor issue. -- The most annoying part is the staff's condescending tone in emails. It seems that they considered adding the points back as a favor to me, instead of an action to correct their own errors.

Worse, I later realized that at least 2 friends I referred became members, which meant 2500 points each. Of course, I didn't receive any of them.

When I reached out to the support team again, they confirmed the situation but refused to give me the points. The excuse seems to be that I'm on a free membership redeemed by points and don't have a formal membership. But why should I continue to be a member if the gym doesn't honor its contract with its customers and behaves so rudely? And why my membership status would prevent you from correcting your own errors? And needless to say, their website provides any clue that free membership will be discriminated.

Disclaimer: The 5000 extra points won't make much difference, especially considering how unlikely I will resume my membership, I just want to make things right. And the staff I met in the gym are really nice and...

Love having a quality gym in the Loop! The facilities are nice and new with a gorgeous view of downtown Chicago. For the most part, FA Block 37 gets it right but there are a few things to improve:

They offer a towel service but it's completely unreliable, sometimes they have them sometimes they don't. It's currently Thursday morning and they're out of towels until Monday. Having to bring your own towel every day because you never know if they're going to have them completely defeats the purpose of even offering the service in the first place. Not to mention how annoying your day begins if you workout and have to figure out how to get into your work clothes without a towel. I would expect more from an $80/month "full service" gym. The free weights section has dumbbells only in increments of 5 pounds. I think that's fine for higher weights but for lighter lifters, some 3, 8 & 12lb dumbbells would be nice. There are no mirrors anywhere except in the locker rooms so no matter what you're doing, you can't check your form. A couple mirrors on the walls bythe squat racks would be great.

I've been enjoying going to FA every day, the staff is always friendly and they have some great yoga and fitness classes. Just a few things to improve to...